Extending Can Light Cord

[Jack Hammer]

I have also done my share of soldering on paintball marker electronics, breech eye sets specifically. My only concern is the same that @guruboy has been voicing. I have the DiveRite MR11 Slim canister light that I just recently had the LED upgrade done to. I did not think to get the cord lengthened during the process because I was diving back mount doubles. I have yet to decide if I am actually going to do it, I was simply wanting to flesh out some of the logistics of doing it. Cost of parts and availability..

It's really not that hard as long as your new cord is the same diameter as your old cord. You can always pick up matching new cord, glands, etc if you are uncertain if they'll work together.

 

[tbone1004]

I have also done my share of soldering on paintball marker electronics, breech eye sets specifically. My only concern is the same that @guruboy has been voicing. I have the DiveRite MR11 Slim canister light that I just recently had the LED upgrade done to. I did not think to get the cord lengthened during the process because I was diving back mount doubles. I have yet to decide if I am actually going to do it, I was simply wanting to flesh out some of the logistics of doing it. Cost of parts and availability..

acquire 16/2 SJOOW from Home Depot or Lowes. They will all have it btw, and it's less than $1/ft. Cut to however long you want, strip back the main shielding a bit, then strip the ends, etc etc.
two wrenches to undo the glands and slide them back on the cable.
remove 2 solder connections on each side of the cable
transfer glands to new cable
solder 2 connections on each side of the cable
slide glands up to the head and canister
screw back in place

voi la, that simple, that cheap, and only parts needed is what you need to solder and the actual cable.

 

[divad]

slide glands up to the head and canister
screw back in place

How tight?

 

[victorzamora]

How tight?

Tight enough to seal, not so tight you break everything.

 

[divad]

Tight enough to seal, not so tight you break everything.

By "break everything" do you mean over-compress the paper wadding in the cord.

 

[guruboy]

acquire 16/2 SJOOW from Home Depot or Lowes. They will all have it btw, and it's less than $1/ft. Cut to however long you want, strip back the main shielding a bit, then strip the ends, etc etc.
two wrenches to undo the glands and slide them back on the cable.
remove 2 solder connections on each side of the cable
transfer glands to new cable
solder 2 connections on each side of the cable
slide glands up to the head and canister
screw back in place

voi la, that simple, that cheap, and only parts needed is what you need to solder and the actual cable.

Thanks. No sealant for the glands?

 

[victorzamora]

By "break everything" do you mean over-compress the paper wadding in the cord.

My dumb jokes aside, I simply got a feel for the tightness when I removed it before tightening. By "breaking everything" I was joking about tearing threads out of the delrin. I honestly hadn't even considered over-compression of the paper wadding.

 

[divad]

By "breaking everything" I was joking about tearing threads out of the delrin. .

It's not that funny, I may have cracked a lid by over-tightening. DOH!

 

[Bobby]

A couple of suggestions.

Use two wrenches when tightening the gland nut down on the gland base. It is possible to strip or loosen the gland base if you don't use two wrenches when loosening and tightening the gland nut to the gland base. You will need a thin head wrench for the gland base

You should buy new internal parts for the gland. The rubber doughnut that tightens and seals the cord often will not go back to it's normal shape. It is common to get leaks from replacing a cord and not replacing the doughnut and the plastic piece that compresses the doughnut. DR should be able to sell you the parts. Though our glands look similar they are different manufacturers. I suggest getting the parts from DR.

Have a good quality soldering iron that puts out a minimum of 60w and preferred 75w. Use a shovel tip as well. Too low of power or too small a tip will over heat the switch body when de-soldering and soldering the wires on the switch causing damage.

 

[stevetto]

It might has sense to replace the sealing insert inside the cable gland.
As it is getting older it loses it's flexibility and thus the sealing capability.
Most probably you can not buy this part separately and you need to replace the whole cable gland.
I use brass IP69k rated AGRO cable glands on my dive light. I tested it at 20 bars (200 meters) and it works perfectly.